


Five Times Holtzmann Didn't Hate Erin as Much as She Felt Like She Should (and One Time Erin Hated Herself Enough For The Both of Them)

by iliveinfantasies



Category: Ghostbusters (2016), Ghostbusters - All Media Types
Genre: 5 Times, F/F, Five Times, Holtzbert - Freeform, I promise it gets better, Light Angst, Slow Burn, protective!holtz
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-18 09:47:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8157814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iliveinfantasies/pseuds/iliveinfantasies
Summary: Holtzmann is very protective of Abby. She's been her only friend for a long time now. So while she's happy Erin is in their lives, she's also more than just a little wary.  She wants to be mad, but also can't quite shake her feelings. And eventually, flirting becomes something altogether different.
Slight slow-burn, definitive Holtzbert endgame. Was a litttle inspired by protective!Holtz from one of the deleted scenes.





	1. Doctor Erin Gilbert, Former Professor of Particle Physics at Columbia University

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry for the short chapter. I tried to make it longer, but this just felt right. Kinda a teaser. Knowing me, that won't last. And I know, I know, another five-times fic. I just can't help it, they take to the trope SO WELL. Working on about five fics right now. Thanks, deleted scenes. Anyway, i am iliveinfantasylife on Tumblr, so please, come visit! Feel free to shoot me messages, I could talk about these guys foreverrrr. Hope you enjoy the fic!

It was after that second meeting, the one right after the soup and the guy who didn't poop his pants and the ectoplasm in every crack and the "accidental" spamming of Erin's former mentor with a ghost-emoji laden video link, that Holtzmann began to occasionally refer to Erin as, "Doctor Erin Gilbert, former Professor of Particle Physics at Columbia University." She always followed up this title with a new one, such as "but still a steadfast supporter of the tiny-bow tie factory," or "and now the proud owner of a stick-free ass."

  
Every time Erin then asked her (in an irritated, slightly raw voice) why Holtzmann insisted on using these titles, Holtzmann informed Erin that it was because "her little nosey-nose went all cute and wrinkly." In reality, it was because, in every single one of these situations, Holtzmann is still able to see the pain behind Abby's eyes when she realized her old friend was gone. Had become aware of the look in Abby's eyes, back in the days when the loss of her former friends was still raw, too new, even all those years later. And Holtzmann knew, too well, that that's a pain that one can only feel in a deep, acute way. And while Abby was quick to forgive in many of these instances, Holtzmann couldn't help the surge of fierce protection that washed over her whenever Erin caused that look to spark up again. Because Erin might have been Abby's best friend, once, but Abby had been Holtzmann's only true friend until now. And Holtzmann wanted Erin to feel that same sense of loss, just as acutely.

Also for the nose wrinkles.

But she ignored that part.


	2. The Old Straight White People Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holtzmann may or may not be the reason Erin lost her job. And she may or may not have done it on purpose. And she may or may not regret it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys. This took a while. Grad school is in full swing, and things are crazy. ALSO, I'm halfway through about three fics, but none of them would actually let me FINISH them? If you're a writer, you probably know this conundrum. ANYWAY, here is the next chapter. I hope I'm not making Holtz seem too evil, because she isn't. She's just fiercely loyal, and loves Abby. And will love Erin, too. She just doesn't know it yet.
> 
> Come see me at iliveinfantasylife on Tumblr. Thanks for reading, all!

It was technically Abby who posted the video to Ghost News. But it was Holtzmann who uploaded it to YouTube, and then to Reddit. It was also Holtzmann who made sure to take every one of these links with “Doctor Erin Gilbert Professor of Particle Physics at Columbia University.” And Holtzmann who managed to find the username of one Dr. Brenum on Reddit, and throw links his way until one of them stuck. And she had known it would. Because if there's one thing scientists like more than well-worded abstracts, it's Reddit.

Or rather, Holtzmann liked Reddit, and she was a scientist, so the logic seemed sound enough to her.

And Holtzmann knew what was going to happen when she did it. It had been quite a while since anyone had been stupid enough to attempt to indoctrinate her into higher academia—critically injuring a world renowned scientist by setting off a minor explosion in a room with a particle accelerator would do that to a girl—but she was still well aware of the ins-and-outs of how those circles of society ran. And she was quite certain that Columbia University thoroughly vetted all of the potential members of the Old Straight White People Club. Though apparently not _that_ well, since the ghost emoji had been up for about three months now. And though Holtzmann was fairly—almost _positively—_ certain that Erin didn’t fit at least one of those criteria, she knew Erin’s type, had dated enough in-and-out-of-the-closet women to recognize the Need To Fit In when she saw it.

So she posted the video with little-to-no trepidation (well, maybe a _little_ ) the moment after it was posted. Because though Holtzmann never fancied herself an especially spiteful person, she cared about Abby more than possibly anything else in this entire world (including explosions, and that was a tall order). Certainly more than the future job prospects of one Doctor Erin Gilbert, Soon-to-be Former Professor of Particle Physics at Columbia University. So she posted the video, tagged the professor, and sat down to work on Abby’s latest helmet.

So when Erin stormed into their lab the next day, Holtzmann hadn’t been terribly surprised. She had been expecting the whir of Hurricane Erin to come storming (pun intended) into the lab she shared with Abby. She had been expecting the anger. She had been expecting the accusations and the panic, and even Abby’s offer of employment, though she still wasn’t sure how she felt about the situation. (She refused to think about why.) Less so the almost dying by way of flaming ashy inferno, but that was day-to-day life anyway, so who had time to worry, really.

What she hadn't been expecting was the sheer level of devastation in Erin's eyes, when she looked at them. The overwhelming, the mask of perfect-for-the-world falling from her face. And Holtzmann realized, right then, that with one click of a button, she had ruined everything that this woman had worked for for the last many years. Possibly her whole life.

And she certainly hadn't been expecting the hollow drop, the narrowing of her throat at Erin's gaze, the sinking horror in her stomach. Hadn't been expecting to look into eyes of Erin Gilbert, exhausted and fallen and sparking with a dull anger, and realize exactly how much she wanted to stop that look from happening, ever again.

But she ignored that part for now.


End file.
